Research Findings

Who took part in the research?

In total, 100 people took part in the research, comprising 76 men and 24 women. The majority of those involved in the research (81 per cent) were from a minority ethnic community, with 85 per cent over the age of 50 years. The majority of those who took part in the research were born abroad (75 per cent).

What was the main reason for those people born abroad to come to Britain?

The majority of respondents from abroad (62 per cent) said that the main reason for them coming to Britain was to work and improve their standard of living. A small proportion (13 per cent) said that their reason for coming was to join a family member. When coming to Britain, 37 per cent had been under 20 years of age, while a further 30 per cent were aged between 21-30 years when they arrived in Britain. For most of the respondents from abroad, a family member was responsible for helping them get to Britain, with 53 per cent saying this.

What expectations did those coming to Britain have?

A significant number (40 per cent) mentioned that Britain was not what they had expected, with the cold weather and early dark evenings being cited as things which they were not expecting. At the same time 35 per cent did feel that Britain was what they were expecting. On arriving to Britain, everyone mentioned that they found a job fairly quickly and for the majority (60 per cent), their first job was in a textile factory.

What working in a textile factory was like?

The majority of respondents worked between 40 to 50 hours per week and often this involved shift work between the hours of 6am-2pm, 2pm-10pm and 10pm-6am. The relatively high wages that Courtaulds offered attracted a high number of people from minority ethnic communities to work there. There was a slight difference between minority ethnic and white workers in terms of how well they got on with their managers. 57 per cent of minority ethnic respondents felt that their relationship with their manager was good and this figure remained constant at the end of their careers as well. Whilst for white workers, 76 per cent felt their relationship was good with their managers at the start of their careers and this dropped slightly to 62 per cent towards the end of their careers. Interestingly, both minority ethnic and white respondents felt that working relationships with fellow workers was excellent, with almost 90 per cent of both respondents stating this right throughout their careers.

What did the workers not like about working in a textile factory?

A high proportion of respondents (67 per cent) stated that the working conditions were the worst aspect of working in a textile factory, in particular the smell of chemicals, noise of machines and the unsocial hours being the worst conditions.

What did people do when the textile factories closed down?

The majority of respondents (54 per cent) mentioned that they were sad when it was announced that the textile factory that they worked in was to close. A fortunate few (15 per cent) managed to find another job before the compulsory redundancy period finished, but for others (25 per cent), finishing work at a textile factory was the end of their working careers as they were to remain out of work until they retired. A small number (10 per cent) were glad that the textile factories had closed as they felt that had they remained open, their health would have suffered even more. The closing of the textile factories also opened up new opportunities for people and the majority of people managed to find alternative work and in some cases they achieved more for themselves.

What do people think of the textile factories now?

Despite the difficult working conditions, over 60 per cent of respondents said that they had fond memories of working in a textile factory. When asking young people now of what they knew of the textile factories, very few could name where a textile factory had once been located and even fewer had visited a factory. Despite this, the majority of young people felt that they had respect for the people who worked in the textile factories as it was a job for them to make a living by and that they worked hard for their money. For those respondents whose parent or guardian worked in a textile factory, the memories of the textile factories was mixed. Most respondents stated that they remembered their parent or guardian returning home from work tired and with clothes that smelt of chemicals. One respondent commented: "I remember going to the Christmas parties that Courtaulds organised and when my father was made redundant, he bought our first colour TV with the redundancy money."